Oxeco to Purchase Tissue Regenix in £12M Share-Based Reverse Takeover

Oxeco has conditionally agreed to acquire regenerative therapies firm Tissue Regenix for £12 million, or about $17.53 million, in shares. Oxeco, in addition, reported that it has conditionally raised £4.5 million, or approximately $6.57 million, before expenses by way of a placing. It is expected to bolster the newly combined firm’s working capital to about £7.4 million, or roughly $10.81 million) net.

The acquisition deal is classified under the London Stock Exchange’s AIM rules as a reverse takeover. The enlarged group will retain the Tissue Regenix name and seek a listing on AIM.

Tissue Regenix was established in 2006 to commercialize a tissue decellularization technology developed by scientists at the University of Leeds. The firm is focused on developing products based on the resulting dCELL® biological scaffold technology, which comprises a patented process that essentially removes cells and other components from animal and human tissue. This allows it to be used for regenerative therapies without the need for antirejection drugs, the companies state.

Tissue Regenix is currently focused on commercializing its lead product, the dCELL® Vascular Patch, a sterile, noncellular biological scaffold designed to be permanently implanted into the human body for vascular repair. The company says that it expects to have the product on the market in Europe during the second half of this year and also plans to pursue regulatory approval in the U.S. The second product focus is dCELL Meniscus, a porcine meniscus-based product for the repair of damaged knee meniscus.